Ryan Hart was at Portland International Airport last month waiting to board a flight for Washington, D.C., when he saw Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.

“You see your member of Congress in the airport, it’s a familiar face, you say ‘Hello,’ ” said Hart, chief external affairs officer for the Port of Vancouver. “It provides an opportunity as well, in those informal settings, to extend our gratitude and thanks to the member of Congress for their ongoing support for the Columbia River and the ports.”

Hart was headed to Washington in large part to meet with the congresswoman’s staff the next day for that very purpose.

The trip was aimed at explaining Columbia River ports and shippers’ needs, as well as ways the federal government could support the shipping system — which generates hundreds of m

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